It has been proposed to place RFID tags on or in walls of a container to confirm the genuineness of a package that includes the container and/or to provide information concerning a product within the container. Such RFID tags may be secured to a wall of the container after fabrication of the container, embedded in a wall of the container during blow molding of the container, or assembled to a container preform in such a way that the tag will be embedded in a wall of the container following blow molding of the preform. A general object of the present disclosure is to provide a method of insert molding an RFID tag into a wall of a container or a container preform, and to provide a blow molded plastic container or a molded plastic preform having an RFID tag insert molded therein.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A method of making a plastic container having an RFID tag in a wall of the container, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, includes providing a mold having a mold core and mounting an insert on the core. The insert includes an RFID tag surrounded by a plastic housing, which preferably is retained on the core for example by heat of the core partially melting the housing. A plastic preform is formed in the mold around the core and the insert, preferably by injection molding, such that the insert is embedded in a wall of the preform. The preform is then blow molded into a plastic container having the insert embedded in a wall of the container. The insert preferably is mounted on an end of the core such that the insert is in the base wall of the container following blow molding. The RFID tag preferably is externally covered by plastic material in the preform as molded, and in the container as blow molded, so that the RFID tag is not externally exposed in the preform or the container. The disclosure also contemplates a container preform and a blow molded plastic container manufactured in accordance with a method of the disclosure.